Shaft in the Park

Poster courtesy of NOMA

If you are going to be in New Orleans this Friday, the New Orleans Museum of Art will be screening Shaft in the sculpture garden.  Admission is $6.00 for non-members and there will be a number of food vendors on site, including Woody's Fish Tacos, which we always enjoy.  We saw the original King Kong a few months ago in the sculpture garden.  

Photo courtesy of Cafe Reconcile

If you are here on October 21st, Cafe Reconcile will be hosting "Chefs to Watch," a culinary cook-off with up-and-coming New Orleans chefs and one from Baton Rouge.  

Cafe Reconcile is on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, which is a very interesting street that is undergoing a renaissance.  We took a walking tour of it a few weeks ago.  The Food and Beverage Museum and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra are relocating there, in the old Dryades Market building.  Church Alley is an amazing coffee bar on the street that we can recommend.  It is a fascinating neighborhood.  The 91 Bus, which stops in front of our house, runs down Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.  

There are all sorts of things going on every day in New Orleans.  Few of them are found in a guide book.  You have to live here to get a feel for the place.  Yes, you can spend all your time in the French Quarter buying tee shirts and drinking hand grenades, though they say that The Jester is the world's most powerful drink (click that link at your peril).  There are plenty of other things to do, though.

A cinematographer was over the house this morning.  It turns out he and a special someone are celebrating an anniversary this weekend.  Frau Schmitt, who happens to know a thing or two about what women like, suggested they stay in Les Saintes Suite on their special day.  

He lives on Tchoupitoulas Street, uptown.  There's no wrong way to pronounce it.  He asked if there is anything to do within walking distance.  I said, "You gotta be kidding me."  Frau Schmitt was more tactful.  She suggested they stroll up to Swirl Wine Bar to pick up a bottle and a light snack to unwind on their balcony.  After that, she suggested he treat the young lady to dinner at Cafe Degas right up the road.  She is usually right about these things.

Every night on Esplanade Avenue is a night to remember.  If they were staying on Friday, I would have suggested watching Shaft under the stars.  That's something you can't do on Tchoupitoulas Street.

A votre santé,
La Belle Esplanade bed and breakfast.